Chapter 39. The breakout begins and Noah dies
Razor checked the sensor data again wearily before getting ready to sleep for a few hours. Sleeping is risky though, as someone like the Spin Turtle may take the opportunity to seize command. But no matter what, he had to take a break, it was inevitable. And the loyal men on board still outnumbered his enemies. But that doesn't guarantee anything. People will only be loyal if they lead successfully. If some failure occurs or they think someone else might do a better job, then they turn their backs on him and look for a new captain. At that time, he must be a dead man.
But so far, so good. His crew also knew better than to mutiny without reason. Otherwise, they will end up in chaos. And there are enough enemies inside the ship that they can't fight each other here. In addition to those big empires operating in their border areas and attacking their cargo ships, there are also some other pirates and bandits operating here, looking for loot. If they're lucky, they might even snatch each other. Everyone looks out for themselves. This is especially true for thieves. But no one but them has a camouflage device, making them the secret reapers here.
Razor loved being a hunter. It keeps the senses alert and delivers a constant rush of intoxicating adrenaline. For him, it was a feeling of freedom. This was one of the reasons why he ultimately chose the pirate life. In Starfleet, he rose to the rank of Lieutenant. Junior lieutenant, to be exact. He was pushed back and forth and had to obey orders. If he was killed in combat, they would replace him with another insignificant guy, posthumously award him a Medal of Honor, and get on with the job. But here he is a character. His name is a word among his enemies. He was becoming the greatest pirate of his time. A man who was feared, but not just a cruel butcher. This pleased him. That's much better than just being a nameless Starfleet officer.
Life, as he lived it, was dangerous. He had faced death directly many times, only to escape it at the last moment. But he doesn't think it's bad. Because there is no better feeling than escaping death. In these moments, he felt alive. If he could no longer defeat death, it would be right for him to die. For him, life's constant dangers were no problem. On the contrary, it made his life more fulfilling. At least that's how he felt.
Lei Ze spent the first few years of his life in Tiansha Star. Tiansha is not one of the most popular planets in the Federation. There is too much population and few employment opportunities. This results in everyone trying to survive by any legal or illegal means. Although his father had done such a business, it was not successful. It was a day like this that gave him real trouble. He dared to compete with an organized gang for the market. This is a disastrous decision. Because one night, they came. Killer Squad. They ensure that competitors no longer exist. They killed his father and mother. If they found him they would certainly kill him too. But he hid well and escaped their pursuit. The rest of Tiansha's childhood was spent in an orphanage, which wasn't exactly the best. This is a barren planet. So when he was growing up, almost nothing went smoothly. He has to fight for everything.
When he was old enough, like many other orphans, he joined Starfleet. Among children, Starfleet is an almost mythical entity. There, you can realize all your dreams. Simply heaven. At first, it was. Everything on earth is different, better, more beautiful. Starfleet is no exception. The food there was better than in the orphanage and the beds were more comfortable. It was a wonderful time. But Reiser never felt completely comfortable there. At first, he just ignored the feeling. He ignored it, telling himself that the feeling would go away over time. After all, this place is much better than Tiansha Star. But the feeling hasn't gone away. Not even after completing college education. This was true even when he was promoted to lieutenant. This feeling persists and becomes more and more urgent.
During a reconnaissance mission to the border area with his superiors, he ended up falling into the hands of anarchic gangsters. His superior was killed, but he survived the shootout. The gangsters took him hostage and kidnapped him. They wanted to hold them to ransom, but Starfleet wouldn't give in. Because Starfleet doesn't negotiate with terrorists. A rescue attempt failed. Therefore, he lived in this mixed gang for nearly a year. Gradually, he became friends with the kidnappers and developed sympathy for them and their lives. Since he was always tall and strong, he was often challenged to duels. Usually these were boxing or fighting matches, which he usually won as well. This gave him increasing recognition, and with it, greater and greater freedom. Before he knew it, he was integrated into their gang. He submitted his letter of resignation to Starfleet and said goodbye to his past. He never waited for their reply.
So he spent several years with these men, pulling off robberies and enjoying the excitement of it. He also slowly climbed the ranks in the gang. One day he challenged the leader and killed him in battle. Since then, he has become the leader of the team. There are also constant changes within the team, as sometimes members are captured or killed. But there are always new gangsters to fill the void.
Finally, two years ago, they had a run-in with a group of Klingons at a bar in Beta Agonia. These guys thought they were the better warriors and spurred Razer to such an extent that Razer eventually accepted the challenge and entered into a duel with the Klingon commander. In a glorious battle, Razer had little chance of winning. But that's not the case, Klingons have a lot of alcohol in their blood. Lei Ze and others directly shot the Klingons who had passed out from drinking. Since the Klingon chief had not anticipated this, the bloody conflict ended quickly. At this point, the pirate group has mastered a Klingon ship equipped with Klingon camouflage technology, named "Black Ghost". He feels no burden to end it all with a dishonorable Klingon duel. Results are what matter.
After three hours of sleep, Lei Ze returned to the bridge again. It is important for him to make his presence known regularly so that no one forgets who is the captain. He glanced at the screen and saw that they were following the Republic's course, keeping their distance and concealed. This Starfleet ship is still heading straight towards the Demon Flame territory. This makes him feel good because he believes his crew will benefit from the events that follow. But if his plan was to succeed, he needed to do something, and that displeased him. He didn't want to fight the demonic flames. He knew that it was very dangerous to fight against these powerful ships, especially since Demon Flame never acted alone.
However, not all of Razer's crew agreed with what he was doing. This was mainly because no one knew what his plans were. If he got the crew involved, they would think he was crazy. His crew lacked his vision and they couldn't understand it. Therefore, he preferred to keep them in the dark about the plan. If the plan succeeds, he will become a hero and remain in his position. If it doesn't work out, it doesn't matter. They will all be dead by then.
"Could have easily won," the Spin Turtle grumbled, blue antennae protruding from his snow-white hair. "We should strike while the ship is still weak."
"And achieve victory over an already defeated prey?" Razor replied with a sneer. "There's nothing there anymore." Lei Ze didn't want to say any more. He had discussed this issue with Spin Turtle, and the entire crew knew about it. This latent conflict will soon be resolved. The Spinner Turtle won't stand for this anymore. And if a decision must be made through violence, he will do so. So, now is the time to get on the right side. And the more supporters there are, the greater the chances of success. Therefore, for Lei Ze, the more fighting spirit he shows, the better.
"Mr. Spin Turtle, set a course to the Kingdom of Kablan. As far as I know, a fleet exercise is being conducted there." Lei Ze ordered.
"You want to attack the entire fleet?" Spin Turtle asked in surprise. This wasn't exactly what he expected.
A smile appeared on Lei Ze's lips. "I'm not crazy. The fleet itself doesn't appeal to me. But if everything goes well, we'll be out of all trouble soon."
His crew members were confused by him but followed his orders. They were also at his command, and the prospect of being quickly freed from all trouble allowed them to remain here. But they knew that success couldn't be put off for much longer, something Lazer knew very well.
A slave hammered a pickaxe into the rock, making a crunching sound as the metal collided. Some stones fell to the ground. The hungry figure raised the pickaxe again. The skin stretched taut over the bones, and the tendons underneath were clearly visible. He swung again, the metal of the tip clanging against the stone, but again only small shards fell. The man no longer had enough strength to remove large chunks of stone from the rock. Still, he kept trying. Busy hands removed the loose stone and threw it into a prepared mine cart. These stones can then eventually be converted into valuable ores.
The man swung again and the stone came loose again. Of course, it would be more efficient to use large machines, but that costs money, and slaves are almost free and there are huge numbers. This ultimately makes the mine more profitable.
He almost fell under the pick, but again he struggled to raise it, but before he could swing again, a strong hand closed around his arm, preventing him from making any movement.
"Give me the pickaxe," a firm voice said from behind him. "I can use it more usefully than you can."
"I can't..." the man stammered in fear. "Demon Flame...they will punish me..."
"The time for punishment has passed." The stranger forcefully snatched the pickaxe from his hand.
"No," the man lamented in a fragile, shaky voice. He turned around and saw a rather strong man standing in front of him. He probably hasn't been here too long. His hair was long gray and he looked shabby. There were a few small cuts on his bronze skin, but nothing serious. There are some whip marks on the upper body, from whipping, but they have healed quite well. And his eyes were full of determination, making the slave dare not say anything more.
"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing," said the stranger, and left with the pick.
The hungry man watched him go. How should he dig now? The Demon Flame would kill him for this. They would whip him until he died. But he couldn't resist the man, he was too weak and the stranger was too strong.
Now that he had the pickaxe, Noah walked resolutely towards a guard of demonic flames. It is time to end this mine. Slaves should never have to toil here again.
As he approached the demonic flames, he dropped his pickaxe and dragged it behind him. He lowered his head and tried to look exhausted. This way, he could get close to the guards without arousing suspicion.
"Move," suddenly, a sinister voice roared from behind him.
Noah cursed in his mind. Now he was facing two enemies, which was not what he had originally planned, but he had no way out. He pulled the pick closer so he could hold it better, pretending to be resting. Then, an electric shock came from the guard's whip. Noah screamed, gripping the handle of the pickaxe tightly. Then he raised the pickaxe with all his strength, turned around with all his strength, and thrust it violently into Moyan's chest from the side. Immediately afterwards, he quickly rolled to the side to avoid the electric shock whip of the demon flame.
But the demonic flame just panted and put down the whip. He reached for his sleeve, barked something into the comm unit, and then fell to the ground, heavy as a stone.
The surrounding slaves stared at Noah in shock. How dare he do this? How dare he attack and kill a demon flame? Now the demonic flames will take revenge on all slaves. They will all die because of this madman.
The demon flame that Noah had initially approached now had his whip on his belt and a beam gun trained on himself.
Noah looked around briefly, trying to find a possible opportunity. but none. He was too far away from the guards to use his pickaxe. And he doesn't have a beam gun. The dead Demon Flame's beam gun was still in his belt. It’s just a short step away from getting it. But Noah was still lying on the ground. He had to get up and get past the dead guard to grab the gun. This is almost impossible. He would be killed before he could reach out for it. But what choice did he have?
There were footsteps from the other side. He slowly turned his head and saw another gun pointed at him. He sighed and closed his eyes. He knew that his little uprising was over and had not really begun. In a matter of seconds, he too would be dead. The claws of the demonic flames have already tightened on the trigger of the weapon...
